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Friday, April 29, 2016

Lourmarin, Bonnieux and Lacoste

We are continuing to have a wonderful time exploring the Luberon, travelling the narrow roads that wind past field of grapes, lavender and other wonderful crops. Several times we have passed fields filled with wild red poppies, unfortunately there has never been the opportunity to stop for a photo. But I live in hope.

This is the view of Apt, where we are staying as the sun goes down. It's a reasonable size town with plenty of restaurants and supermarkets. Yesterday we visited Super U which was a bit like the old super Kmart, it had the variety and supermarket all in one. I scored a new silicone Madeliene tray . . .

Lourmarin

On Tuesday we drove over the mountain range again to the lovely little town of Lourmarin. We arrived a little early so decided we would wander a little through the narrow little streets,some of these streets are purely pedestrian, or at most they would have a scooter or motor bike, and on each turn are a joy, I could snap so many photos of the cute little gardens in the corner or the lovely shutters, doors or curtains in the Windows they just make such great use of the available space. Gadget always get a little worried that we will get lost wandering the back streets but somehow we never really do.... I think I would enjoy staying in one of these villages for a week or so and just wandering with my camera in hand.

The narrow streets of Lourmarin

This is the chateau of Lourmarin, parts of it were built during the medieval period other parts during the Renaissance, it had a gorgeous staircase and several very charming rooms. It is used throughout the year as a retreat for artists. It was open to the public and had some very lovely decorated rooms.

Bonniuex

Bonniuex is the sweetest little honey coloured village which just seems to tumble down the edge of the hill a bit like Gordes. As we were driving in I was frantically looking for a place we could pull over for a photo but there really wasn't anywhere safe. We headed here for many reasons, but I was really hoping to go to the bakery museum, sadly it was closed. We wandered the streets a little and ended up at a little cafe for lunch. Unfortunately being the total ditz that I am , I left my reading glasses at the cafe, we returned for them but the owner , whom didn't understand English very well, looked and couldn't find them. Fortunately the owner of our apartment made a phone call and Viola I have my glasses back, plus a spare pair cheap ones from a local optometrist.

I just love these streets...

From Lourmarin, you can see the village of Lacoste perched on the side of the hill across the valley.

Lacoste

Lacoste was a quiet little town, that was not very touristy at all, which is nice. I made gadget tag along up the steep narrow streets until we reached the top where the castle stands. The castle which is owned by Pierre Cardin, sadly is in a state of semi disrepair after being almost totally destroyed during the French Revolution and wasn't open to the public, however the view was spectacular . . . And the streets on the way up were very cute.

I think this justifies the climb. You can just make out Bonniuex on the right hand side of the image.

Pont Julien

This gorgeous little bridge was built in the 2nd or 3rd century AD and was named after the family of Julius Cesar and was part of the Via Domitia the road used to travel from the south of Gaul ( France) to northern Italy and into Rome. Up until about 2002 this bridge was still used for traffic, however it is quite narrow and a new bridge now stands nearby which allows traffic to flow both ways. The narrow openings you can see are to allow water to pass through in times of flood, the Romans really thought of everything. This is the cutest little bridge and is still used for cyclists and pedestrians. We weren't even looking for this we just were driving past and there it was.